Suicidal Computer

Hello everyone! My name is Natalie. I live on a college campus with my two roommates, one of which has a PC which is frankly suicidal. Since about November the computer shuts itself off randomly and then takes 2-3 attempts to get it running again. Until last week she said that this only happened once or twice a day. But last Saturday it started shutting itself off around every 20 minutes without warning. I have gotten her to switch from Internet Explorer and AIM to Firefox and Gaim and have run the basic malware removal procedures you all outlined on this site (running Lavasoft Adaware, Trend Micro, Spybot S&D, CCleaner, etc in safe mode with networking and then again in normal mode) with little luck. I thought perhaps the PC was overheating but the fan seems to be running fine and we dusted the innards with no success. She has Windows SP2 and runs Windows XP. I don't know what kind of virus or malware it could possibly be (she previously had the Sasser worm but I ran the FixSasser thing from Microsoft and Symantec and it appeared to be fixed.) I've run out of ideas. Do you have any suggestions as to what could be wrong? Thank you so much for your help! I always come to this website for comp fixes and advice

 

Oh, and I just booted up the BIOS setting to check the internal temperature. It didn't go above 43 degrees celsius even after leaving it on for over an hour. (It didn't shut down in BIOS setting either though.) When I restarted the computer and booted normally it shut down within 15 minutes. Gah!

 

Hi Natalie
If it's shutting down and then not powering up when you try to switch it on again, it would suggest some sort of hardware failure.
Do the capacitors on the motherboard around the CPU look damaged, or do they have stuff leaking out of them?
Check out this page...
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=195
If the capacitors are damaged, it would explain why the PC shuts down after a while.

 

If the computer just shuts off, based on your description, it sounds like a power supply that is failing or bad RAM. Try reseating the RAM modules first. If that doesnt work I would recommend trying a power supply. Borrow one to try if you can.

If the computer is going thru a shutdown process it is probably software related

 

download everest and post a log, I think it sounds like a power supply problem.

 

Thanks for the help! It looks exactly like that pic of the leaking electrolytes, except that the fluid has collected around the top. How do I fix that??? Ahhh!
Natalie

 

you can either get a new mobo or try to recap the one you've got.

 

May cost just as much to replace it as it does to fix it.
Personally, I'd replace the motherboard, on the offchance that the repaired capcitors would fail again.

 

all it takes to recap is a soldering iron, some solder, caps, and some sandpaper. needle nose pliers also help. might not work but it is worth a try

 

Ain't they purty?

 

oh yeah, you got it bad, you probably need a new mobo but the reapping thing is worth a try, i am gonna look for that DIY guide I saw the other day.

 

can't find the guide. all you need is a dead mobo to be the donor and you could swap out those caps for living ones. just make sure you get the negative on the right side and don't let the mobo get to hot when soldering.

 

I feel like I'm posting nudie pics on the net Computers gone wild!
I think I'll just install a new motherboard for her, I don't trust myself with the recapping. THanks for all of your help~